Saturday, June 28, 2008

Well, I don't know if I completely believe the description. Kind of fun! Try it.

Strong and spirited. You're no one's girly girl; actually you are very determined person with a strong sense of self. Never let go of that! The only thing that equals your sense of self is your family, but the traditions of society can always be bent to protect something or someone you love.

Friday, June 27, 2008

NOTE: For the life of me I can't get the photos to rotate. So just tilt your head and pretend they are the right direction. Work with me on this one!!! Thanks.

Caleb trying on his wheels for size.

Liberty showing her choice of pre cut car.

Zach showing the future Bumble Bee.

Okay to most people it is called a Pinewood Derby, however; Liberty has always called it a Final Derby. Don't ask me where this came from but once again it is time for Final Derby preparations. Next week is the Williams Family Reunion (Craig's Mom's Family). It is held every 3 years and the kids are way excited! The pinewood derby has become a loved event at the Reunion. This year I decided to let the kids loose and actually let them do it all by themselves, no help from us. It has proven to be quite the undertaking! It has been fun to watch them and document the progress each of their cars have made. Zach quickly decided he wanted to make his look like "Bumblebee" from the Transformer movie. Caleb just said "I want red & black", easy enough. Liberty wanted ... you guessed it ... pink and purple! Surprise. The other day I picked up the pre-cut cars at Roberts and the fun began! It has been fun to see what they have come up with. First the sanding, then the painting, then details and the final clear coat finish. The finished products look great! Total kid done! I did help Liberty put the details on hers but other than that it was all them. Who knows how fast they will go or if they will win but the best part of it all is they did them themselves. Best of luck in the FINAL DERBY!

Liberty painting her sparkly pink car!

Caleb painting the red part of his car.

Zach painting his first color.

Just as a side note, let me tell you about Craig's car. It seriously cracks me up, how into this he gets. He needed 2 kits because he wanted to make his a mustang. He printed the specs off the internet and traced it out and took it to work with him to cut some of it and then will be sanding from now until the race begins! (Maybe not that long but who really has the patience for that? Not me!) He purchased some cool little add on things so it could have a spoiler and the whole works. I love it! I just hope that he has other adults to race with! Or that is a lot of work just to look at it and not race! I love it, if you haven't seen the movie Down and Derby... there is a reason my hubby loves that movie. I think he sees a little bit of himself in the characters. Race details coming soon.

Monday, June 23, 2008

So yesterday while getting ready for church I noticed that my children are getting way to big! I sort of started to freak out! You know how it feels when you realize your children are growing up and aren't so little anymore. I think it started when I was talking to Caleb and he looked over at me and I noticed he isn't to far from looking me eye to eye. He has already passed up his Grandma and is quickly approaching Grammy. After a few moments, while I was buttoning Zach's shirt I noticed he is up to my chest, freaky! Liberty seems to be growing like a weed! Long legs and all! So after church I took this photo and check it out. They are all a head taller than the younger one. I love it! Even though I am freaking out, it is something that I thought was so cute, my little ladder of children. Don't know how long it will last but I will love it until it changes. They make me smile and I love them so much!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Libby's cute up-do...thanks to Jen!This was her favorite dress there! She wore it almost the entire time.Libby starting her first PEDI at the Primrose Spa!Her cute toes just before the cute heart stickers were added. The whole gang! All dressed up!

We have been waiting for this day for a while now. A new spa opened in Spanish Fork right down the street from Jen's house and we heard it was great. Thanks to Lexi & Brooklyn's birthdays the girls were able to have a really fun party at the "Spoiled Rotten" section of the spa. Holy Cow! It was a dream come true for the girls. They loved being let loose in the dress up closet, I think they could have played in there for hours. There was a fun runway with a camera and screen so they could watch themselves walking down it. They got pedi's and and had a darling tea party. The sisters all sat and watched as the girls enjoyed every minute of it. The place was so cute, every girl would love it. The sisters had lunch in the tea room and had treatments planned as well, I felt really gross, my throat was hurting but I kept telling myself I wasn't getting sick. But I gave up, the spa was running behind and I wasn't feeling up to staying so I left when the party was over. Bummer, but I still have some great looking toes from Los Angeles so I can't complain too much. I guess I will have to go back...twist my arm! Liberty still can't stop talking about it. Jen was nice enough to have all the girls come over to her house before we left and did the girls hair darling as usual. It is someplace I am sure we will go again. Fun for every girl!

Check these cuties out...Spoiled Rotten! I loved the robes!

Even after changing back into her own clothes, she still had the model bug in her!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Craig accepting his gifts. Notice the 2 liter of Root Beer, that was Zach's idea for a gift. Not exactly sure why. I think he drank most of it. Funny! The kids with Breakfast in Bed for thier Dad! This is taken right as Craig woke up.

I think Craig had a good Father's Day. The kids made his favorite breakfast jiffy blueberry muffin mix waffles with the batter as syrup. (I know it was something I had to aquire a taste for but it is actually pretty good.) They served it to him in bed. Something he really likes. Liberty was asked to sing in church with a few other children, they sang darling Father's Day songs. She looked so cute up there singing right to her Dad! Grammy and Papa were able to come and watch her. It was great to see them as always. We got to wish Papa a Happy Father's Day also. After church we gave Craig his gifts minus one thing because we couldn't find the type of money clip he wanted. So the search is still on. But we spent a relaxing afternoon together as a family. We had dinner with his parents, it was nice. A great meal! YUM! After dinner the rest of the family came over and we had a great time hanging out talking and of course the Sunday evening football game for all the boys and men. Can't go wrong with that happy ending.

Craig is a great dad and a great husband. We all love him so much. I can't express how happy he makes me. It has been 13 years, and we are going strong. The children look up to him so much, he is a great friend and example to all of us. Thanks Craig for everything. And of course we can't forget my dad and Craig's dad, they are both amazing men. Men who have sacraficed many things for our behalf. We love them so much. Thanks to both of them. Just got to say, I love the Men in my life! (you know Craig and Dad & Dad in Law!)

Friday, June 13, 2008

This was the position Caleb stayed in for almost 2 entire days. Notice the granola bar wrappers all over the bean bag, and the hair that he had been running his fingers thru, it was seriously funny to see him in the same place for so long.

I went to the library on Monday to see what I could find that would capture the idea of reading during the summer! My children feel that summer is their time off. I am trying to keep some sort of reading and school work going this summer for thier benefit. I found the Harry Potter #7 on CD for Caleb to listen to. I would have never thought it would turn out the way it did.

Caleb started listening Monday evening, but only got in a chapter. Tuesday he woke up early and the marathon began. He didn't move off the bean bag at all! It was crazy. He was in a trance. I not sure that he even knew what was going on around him. It was really funny.

Wednesday he woke up and started the disks first thing. Zach and Liberty were at times invloved in listening but at other times really getting sick of it. He read along with the book which was something that I encouraged and surprisingly he agreed.

The last few chapters everyone was in the family room listening to. Craig and I read the book right after it came out but we were still totally taken with listening to the words and the wonderful story. We are definite Harry Potter fans in this house.

I would have never thought my sneaky plan to have some sort of reading taking place this summer would have worked so great. I wonder what other books on tape I can find! We shall see!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Tonight Caleb had his last game for the season. This game was a rain make-up game and it also was a pre-season game so it really didn't count in the standings. Caleb's team has done great!!! It was a rocky start but they really connected and their record is 7-1 (seven wins & one loss for those unfamiliar with baseball lingo). Great season. Last night at his game the coach told them because the game didn't count that they could play any position they wanted. So Caleb piped up and asked if he could pitch...his coach agreed. Caleb was pumped. He couldn't wait to get out there.

I had a Young Womens 5 mile hike tonight so I couldn't be there to watch him but Craig took some photos. Craig said that the warm up pitches were out of control! The coach told the umpire maybe he shouldn't stand behind the plate for fear of being hit. Batter up! Caleb came out...he struck out three of the four batters he faced! He loved it ... something other than catcher! He did a good job. He also played center field, short stop, and 3rd base. It was a great game!

To bad the face is blurred! It looks like a good one!

In the last inning, Craig offered a deal. Five bucks for a hit over the outfield heads. So while he is stepping up to bat I arrive. He was ready to hit, he wanted it. He has one strike due to a foul, the second pitch he hit a line drive shot to right field, it bounced before the right fielder but rolled to the 250 foot fence. The crowd went wild!!! He rounded first, and kicked it into gear!!! I don't think he has ever run so hard or fast for that matter! As he rounded second, the outfielder was just getting to the ball, and as he rounded third heading for home the cut off man who was just outside of the infield caught and threw the ball home....We were going crazy!!!! The throw was dead on and Caleb slid right into the catcher knocking the ball out of his glove!!!! His first homerun ever!!! What made it better, was the bases had been loaded!!! GRAND SLAM! Way to go. I was watching him so closely I didn't even realize that there were base runners! Someone had to inform me it was a grand slam! The team cleared the dugout and the stands were cheering like mad! It was awesome. He was so excited and winded at the same time. I think he was looking for the oxygen mask! LOL! Craig is out five bucks but it was well worth it. Way to go Idaho! We were so happy for him!

Check out how happy he is! He got a free drink at the snack shack! SCORE!

Monday, June 9, 2008

That is the best way that I can explain my weekend. The kids were watching the Incredibles and the little boy at the end who sees Mr. Incredible do something with his "super powers" shockingly says "that was totally wicked", I had to use that caption for my post. That comment pretty much sums up the experience.

Here we are just about to go into the theaterI have fallen in love with Wicked. After it was all over all I could think of is how badly I wanted my family to see it! They all would love it. So hopefully I can get enough tickets when it comes to Salt Lake. We had amazing seats! 6th row! We joked about how we could see the actors spit! I know that is not something I would usually want to see but that just gives you an idea of how close we were. I loved watching their emotion as they sang and the costumes were wonderful! I loved every part of it!The Wicked weekend did not disappoint. We had an amazing adventure that is for sure! Here are somethings I will never forget!

Standing around the Las Vegas Airport watching people while waiting for our luggage and seeing a guy who looked like Jack Sparrow...I was hoping that that was the look he was going for. But who knows. (Strangely enough we saw him again at the airport as we were heading home)

A road trip full of fun music and Liz & Dana singing their hearts out, using adapters as microphones. Classic!

Arriving in LA and not being able to get out of traffic until we left. I had forgotten about the constant traffic. No matter what time it is.

Our stress to get to the play on time, we were starving and needed to eat before. Keep in mind the traffic made it so we were in a time crunch. Luckily we found a cute pizza place around the corner from the theater. Great Pizza!

The sky writers we saw. It was cool. We thought it was appropriate that we saw it on our way, it reminded us of the wicked witch writing "beware" in the sky. Pretty cool!

Noticing smoke coming out of Liz's car...there was a burning smell. Not a good sign! Ended up takinig it in for a broken power steering hose. Big fire hazard apparently.

Being in another time crunch...leaving the car, picking up a rental car with a broken GPS, having to get back to the Pantages Theater before the matinee starts to check for Liz's lost wallet.

Getting a referal from the guy at Jiffy Lube on where to get at pedi! Lee's Nails in LA luckily it was within walking distance from the Jiffy Lube, but after having it done and trying to walk back to find out the fate of the car, my flip flop broke while crossing some big major street, it was funny, but my foot was completely back just after my lovely pedi! Bummer!

On our way to the theater driving down Santa Monica Blvd. seeing many things. Some pretty cool things, others not so cool. We did get to see the LA Temple, yes we were the ones sticking our cameras out the window taking photos while driving by. Also, getting caught in the Gay Pride festivities while driving down the street.

Hollywood Blvd. also an interesting place. We saw everything, some I could have lived without seeing, but I have never been walking down the street seeing people with a joint sticking out of thier mouths! Wow! I must live in Utah!

Being chased by some guy in a horror film character costume (I honestly don't have a clue which one but he was freaky looking). I secretly wanted to scream out loud but was brave and just ran faster to catch up with Liz and Dana who were also running from him.

Returning to our hotel and having the entire building thumping from the music which went on until about 2:00 am. Very interesting.

Rushing back to get the car from the Acura dealership before it closed and heading back to Las Vegas. The car trip was full of great conversations and lots of laughing.

These are just a few things that happened. I know it is a long post. Sorry. But there was so much fun packed into 4 days it was just crazy. I love being with these ladies. They are those kinds of friends that no matter how much time it has been between visits, it feels like just yesterday. Although we never found the wallet and some may feel that a car breaking down could put a burden on a weekend, well you are wrong! We had a great time. I can't wait to do it again. So much fun. Yes, I did miss my family, just like I always do. I know they missed me also, they were happy to see me. Love that feeling. I haven't gotten some of my favorite photos from the trip from the other two cameras yet, I will have to post those later, but here are some of mine.

Wicked is highly recommended by me...I give it 2 thumbs up!

Shopping at the mall by the Kodak Theater. Don't know what it is called. But we had fun eating at California Pizza Kitchen and shopping around Sephora.

This is us in the elevator...we took lots of these self portraits. Funny!

My pedi! Loved how it turned out. I didn't have flip flops on so the gave me these foam ones, which FYI don't last more than 5 or 6 steps.

Zach is 8! I can't believe how big he is getting! He is tall, cute, extremely funny, and a big sweetheart. He is constantly making the family laugh. Some of the things that boy comes up with at the most random times is absolutely hilarious. He will be getting baptized in a few weeks. I love watching him grow up. He is my little man who is getting bigger and bigger each day. The little things are what Zach loves. He notices many things that most kids don't ... details! He enjoys life so much it is actually fun to watch it. We love our Zach and are proud of him everyday. Happy Birthday to my little Zachers. You continue to melt my heart everyday! Thanks for being a great son and brother. Happy Birthday to you, CHA, CHA, CHA!!!

Zach opening his presents first thing in the morning!

Zach blowing out the candles on his cake with a little help from his sister!

Take a look at this monster...he loves it! Nerf dart gun! The child is in heaven!

I can't believe how tall my Zach is getting. He is changing everyday! I love him so much! Hope you had a great day Zach.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Well my long awaited weekend is upon me! I can't wait. I am flying down to Las Vegas this afternoon to hang with friends. We are driving to LA tomorrow to go see WICKED! I have wanted to see this for a very long time! I am so excited. Even though it is coming to SLC next year...I can't wait. Maybe I will just go again. I am looking forward to spending the weekend with my awesome friends whom I just love to pieces. My cute husband and children I am sure are feeling left out. I have the most amazing guy ever, he encourages me to do things like this. I love him so much. My children asked me yesterday if it was the day I was leaving and I after my answer, "Not until tomorrow", Zach pipes in and says, "Yes, that means we get to go to movies and eat out every night!!!" Got to love that boy! I know where I stand. I will miss everyone here at home...hopefully they will sort of miss me too. But this is a a long awaited weekend and I can't believe it is finally here! Fun times!!!

Cute friends that I get to spend the weekend with! So much fun! We haven't taken a road trip together for 15 years!!! Look out LA here we come!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Okay, I must say that my hubby is so cute. When I came home from the Run for Ryan on Memorial Day and told him the story of my "cross trainers" just not cutting it. He got right on that. He purchased some running shoes for me online shortly after. When they arrived I was so excited. I love them. They just look cool all new and white! To be completely honest they arrived about 4 days ago and I have yet to try them out. I know, I know...it is on the list. I set the alarm with full intentions of getting up and heading out for a nice morning run. But for some reason, my bed seems to win every morning. But that has to stop!!! I WILL go tomorrow morning. It will be fun. I have to tell myself that. The next race I plan on running is in 2 weeks so I better try to at least break the shoes in before race day. My secret hope is to better my time! So once again my hubby has done it again!!! He is great and extremely thoughtful. I love him to pieces. Now I better get running so he can come and cheer me on! While I wear my cute new running shoes.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

I took half day off on Tuesday, May 27th to be able to go watch the boys at the annual Dance Festival at school. It is always a hit every year. We were pleasantly surprised when the weather cooperated with us, it was a beautiful day! Zach was so cute doing the Penguin Dance. He must secretly love to dance, cause he really got into it. Just like last year. I loved watching him when it was "freestyle" dance. He really rocked out.

Zach was so cute! He's got Rhythm!!!!

Caleb was happy that this was his last year for this. He doesn't look forward to it and usually doesn't tell me anything about his dance before hand. This year his grade did the "Boot Scootin' Boogie". He was a crack up. I could just see his mind keeping count. He did a great job. I love how at one part of the dance he looked like he was shoveling the air.

Notice the shoveling motion!

The big finale with the entire school on the field was dedicated to a teacher who was retiring, "Surfin' USA". Every year I love to go and watch this. Liberty and I had a great time finding people we know. It is really fun because our school boundries take in pretty much all of our stake and a little more, so we know lot of the students. I got to see some of my former students and it still feels good to have them remember me. Love that.

Great job boys! I think you are dancers at heart! I will miss watching Caleb next year, but Zach dance your heart out!

Yesterday Liberty noticed that I was throwing away a cardboard box. She asked if she could have it. Hey, easy enough for me, free entertainment for her! Great. She used some dot markers that we have and "painted the walls". She told me she wanted it so she could sleep in it. This was at about 3:00pm so I was sure she would forget about it. Well, I was wrong. Caleb came upstairs and asked for the camera...I wasn't catching on at this point, he ran downstairs...and snapped some shots of her asleep in her box! We laughed our heads off. She slept this way all night long. And yes, in case you were wondering she is sleeping in it again tonight! Crazy girl. I guess clostrophobia isn't a problem for her. The simple things that make children happy. Love it!

The Lucky Parents

Just a couple of average parents with 4 of the most amazing children ever! We are still trying to figure out everything about parenting but hey it's been a great ride so far and it is only getting better!